COO's exit may hamper Baidu AI push

The departure of Baidu's chief operating officer Lu Qi may lead to a setback to the Chinese internet search giant's push into artificial intelligence, as the company aims to diversify away from its search engine business and double down on AI as its core strategy, analysts said.

Lu was overseeing Baidu's shift to AI-related businesses, including open autonomous driving platform Apollo and conversation-based artificial intelligence system DuerOS, and his departure last week saw the firm's share price slump almost 10 percent on Friday.

"In the short run, Lu's resignation will dent investors' confidence, as his reputation and personal ability is widely recognized in the AI sector," said Lu Yanxia, research manager at consultancy IDC China.